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Entangling marriage into a political jujitsu

"Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for
Marriage, which opposes unions of same-sex couples, has brought his 23-city bus
tour here in hopes of drawing a crowd. He has succeeded, but not in the
way you might expect.

"On a warm weekday, with the university
students mostly on vacation and the legislature adjourned, the state
Capitol grounds have a placid midsummer air. But with the appointed
time of noon at hand, that is about to change.

"As Brown stands at
the foot of the Capitol, watching a few sympathizers gather around a
lectern, a distant rumble intrudes on the quiet. Marching up State
Street are 200 or 300 demonstrators, carrying signs and chanting
slogans, all attracted by the chance to repudiate the NOM message as
noisily as they can.

"On first glance, this may look like a fine
place to hold a rally on behalf of what NOM calls 'traditional
marriage.' It's the seat of government in a socially conservative state
whose voters voted by a 59 percent majority in 2006 to ban marriage equality and civil unions.

"On second glance, though, it looks like the worst possible venue. Madison and the University of Wisconsin
campus have long been famous as a hotbed of counterculture lifestyles
and left-wing activism. Green Party candidates have been elected to
several city and county offices. The freedom to marry ban lost
overwhelmingly here.

"So why would NOM hold a rally where it is
sure of being badly outnumbered by motivated and well-organized
critics? Maybe because that's what it wanted. The Summer for Marriage
Tour could have been called the Come Shout Us Down Tour.

"The
endeavor has managed to make opponents of the freedom to marry look like a
brave, embattled minority, even though they constitute 53 percent of
the public and have gotten their way in all but a few states. At
today's rally, NOM supporters just number two or three dozen.

"NOM's
Web site focuses not on any outpouring of
support for its cause, but on the protesters who have appeared at its
rallies, including some it accuses of disruptive and intimidating
tactics. 'Watch the shocking video here!' it proclaims, linking to a
clip from a somewhat raucous event that, in truth, falls short of
shocking.

"The organization specializes in a form of political
jujitsu, leveraging its foes' weight against them. As chairman Maggie
Gallagher tells me, 'The counterprotests are holding down our physical
numbers [at rallies], but they're expanding our online activist community.'"